


Heroes Are Made by the Paths They Choose (Not the Powers They Are Graced With)

by mywarisalreadywon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Endgame, Avengers Endgame Spoilers, Avengers Family, But I'll get there, Gen, I needed to get this out first, Morgan is her fathers daughter, not a fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 07:22:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18773947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mywarisalreadywon/pseuds/mywarisalreadywon
Summary: I made myself sad, so now I'm going to make all of you sad too.With a smirk echoing his, she gets nothing but applause.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is a Tony quote. Because I can. And now I think I need that quote permanently tattooed onto myself.

Morgan is ten when Harley shows up on her birthday. It’s not unusual, but the red and gold box in his hands is because it looks fancy and Harley keeps insisting that he’s just a boy from Tennessee. He’s not, they know he’s not, he’s well on his way to head of R+D with Tony’s blessing. Still, it’s shiny and pretty and that’s not how Harley usually does things. He’s more practical most of the time.  
  
“I had specific instructions for delivering this,” he says. Her mom tears up, and Morgan can see the sorrow he’s covering up with a grin. “Peter was supposed to deliver it with me, but he’s got midterms, so I told him to stay there.”  
  
Their reactions tell her it’s from her dad, but she knows that they don’t know about Friday showing her recordings of him. It’s not the same, but it helps because she can hear his voice and see him smile and it makes pretending to be alright a little easier.  
  
The box is small, carefully wrapped, and she takes her time opening it. Inside lay two items. A pair of sunglasses – red lenses with gold frames – and a glowing blue housing unit. She grins, setting it on her chest before anyone can say anything, and the armor washes over her. The HUD lights up, and she hears Friday in her ears.  
  
“Welcome, little boss. Would you like to activate the Defensive Advancement Database?”  
  
“Um. Sure, why not?”  
  
“Just a moment.” She sees the HUD reset itself, but Friday’s voice doesn’t come back.  
  
“Hey there, Maguna,” his voice says. Her eyes go wide. “Want me to teach you how to fly this thing?”  
  
<><><><><><><><><><>  
  
Uncle Jim is around more. He tells her about her dad, little things that he doesn’t seem to be sharing on purpose. He tells her that they met when her dad was a teenager, that he was scrawny and smart and never knew when to stop instigating people. She finds out that he and Uncle Jim got into all kinds of mischief, but they never got caught. He tells her about how Tony was lonely then, but how the two of them became so close that he’d do anything for him. He tells her about how her dad grew, how he watched him turn into a man. He tells her that leaving him to go into the Air Force was one of the hardest things he ever had to do.  
  
Uncle Jim gives her all the hugs she needs. She thinks he hugs just like her dad, thinks maybe her dad learned to hug from him.  
  
He tells her that he loves her two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine. She looks at him, confused, and he just gives her a sad look.  
  
“Because as much as I love you Skittle, I’m not him, and as your dad, he will always have more love for you than I possibly can. But that doesn’t mean I can’t come as close as possible.”  
  
<><><><><><><><><><>  
  
DAD teaches her to fly. It’s not like it should be, with him actually there with her, but the voice in her ear helps and it’s as close as she can get to the real thing. He’s not actually her dad, and she knows that, but DAD is just going to have to be enough. She shares him sometimes, with Peter and Harley and once with her Uncle Jim. He cried, and she pretended not to see it.  
  
After that, Uncle Jim flies with her. He tells her little tips and tricks, things he’s learned since he’s been flying the suit almost as long as her dad was. It feels better, flying with him, not being alone. He’s not her dad, but everyone says that Uncle Jim and her dad were closer than brothers. She knows he loves her too, so it’s okay, she’s happy to share this with him.  
  
She isn’t allowed to fight, not yet, not until she’s older, but Peter helps her train because she wants to be like the rest of her family, she wants to carry on her father’s legacy. Her mom hates it, but she just looks at Morgan and tells her that she hates it when he fought too. She tells her later that she couldn’t stop him either, and she is her father’s daughter, so she knows her mom is supportive even though she’s scared.  
  
<><><><><><><><><><>  
  
She goes to MIT like her father, doesn’t take anyone’s shit like her mother, and stands tall and proud when people tell her she can’t do something just like her uncle. She never ever loses sight of her goals.  
  
On her father’s twenty-first birthday, he took over his father’s legacy with the whole world watching and stepped up as a CEO for Stark Industries. Morgan doesn’t want to do that, and her mother isn’t about to let her. Crunching numbers and listening to people tell her about stocks and dividends and what she can or can’t do for the company’s image doesn’t sound like a good time to her.  
  
On her twenty-first birthday, Morgan Stark steps up to take over her father’s legacy with the whole world watching. She wears the suit, does the superhero landing, and declares that she is Iron Woman and she is an Avenger and dares anyone to tell her otherwise.  
  
She’s got her mom standing near the podium, her favorite uncle beside her, the rest of her family watching from their homes, and DAD’s assurances in her ear. She knows her father’s story. She knows he started his journey as Iron Man alone and desperate with a heavy heart. She knows she’s not starting her journey like that. She’s not alone. She never will be. If she doesn’t look, she can swear she sees him standing at her side, just behind her, a blur at the edge of her vision.  
  
With a smirk echoing his, she gets nothing but applause.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I added more because I had a thought that wouldn't let me sleep.

Strange is an ally she wasn’t expecting. Not that he’s a bad ally, because he can be very helpful when he wants to be. Still, from what she’d heard, he and her dad had clashed. He gives her a look when she asks, because she sometimes lacks in her verbal filter, much to her mom’s chagrin. He promises her that he had nothing but respect for him, for what he was trying to do.   
  
He offers her a gift, and once she hears the offer, she doesn’t hesitate to accept. She’s not sure how he’s doing it, but she doesn’t care.   
  
She finds herself in what seems like a white room. She’s in her suit still, because she was wearing it when Strange started doing whatever it was that he did. She hears footsteps, but can’t bring herself to turn around until she heard them stop. She steels herself, keeps the helmet up, and turns around.   
  
The first thought that runs through her is that he looks just how she remembers. His eyes match hers, and she’s sure the surprise she sees there is the same as hers, though she knew this was coming. The helmet retracts without her really deciding to pull it back, and his eyes go even wider.   
  
“Morgan?” Hearing him pushes her over the edge. It’s him, not the hologram, not the slightly electronic voice DAD uses. It’s him. Tears slide down her cheeks, silent and steady. He doesn’t pause, holding his arms open and stepping closer, letting her flee into his hold where she knew she would always be safe.   
  
“God, you’ve gotten so tall,” he says, his voice thick now. “You get that from your mom.”  
  
“She says I get everything else from you,” Morgan says, her voice stronger than she anticipated.   
  
“Please tell me you’re not here because you’re…” he trails off, but she doesn’t need him to continue.   
  
“No, Dad, no. Strange. He said he could give me some time.”   
  
“Good. Because I love you, but it’s too soon.” She laughs, burying her face in his neck. She hasn’t had him in years, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a bottle of his cologne that she keeps to remember how he smells. Even with that, it’s not quite the same. In his arms, she finds that long lost memory of him, that cologne and hints of motor oil. She feels like she’s five again, and he’s holding her tight as he reads to her or tells her a story about Iron Man.   
  
“I miss you.”  
  
“I know, honey. But you’re doing so well on your own. I’m so proud of you. Your mom tells me all about you. I’m not entirely sure how it works, but every night I hear her voice telling me what happened during the day,” he tells her.   
  
“So you know that I’m an Avenger?”  
  
“I do. I know that you’re damn good at it too,” he says, rubbing a hand over her back. “You’re a natural.”  
  
“I had some help. From DAD.”  
  
“Ah. Yeah,” he laughs, “I hoped it would work how it was supposed to. I mean, I made it, so of course it works perfectly.”   
  
“Uncle Jim likes it too.”  
  
“Of course he does. He’s a sap, he just won’t admit it.” She wishes she could bring him back with her, wishes she could fix everything and keep him because she still needs him, she’s always needed him, she just hasn’t been able to have him.   
  
“I want you to come home.”  
  
“I can’t. I wish I could too, honey, I do. There is nothing I want more than to come home with you and to be with you and your mom and our family. But it doesn’t work like that and I have to stay here. But I will be right here waiting when you’ve lived your life. I will be right here, and I will take such good care of everyone who comes to join me. I found Nat, you know, and we’re both happy to wait for everyone else.”  
  
“I know. I still wish you could come back.” He hugs her a little tighter, presses a kiss to her temple, and she feels a wave of calm wash over her. He pulls back and cups her face with his hands. She thinks they feel the same too, with the callouses left behind from creating so much with them.   
  
“I’m always with you. Every step of the way.”  
  
She feels herself fading, knows her time is coming to an end. Strange had warned her that too much time would hurt her and she knows even this much is a gift, but she wishes she had more time.   
  
“I love you three thousand,” she tells him. She sees tears in his eyes, but he’s grinning at her.   
  
“I love you three thousand,” he repeats back to her. She doesn’t know if she closed her eyes, but she does know that when she opens them, Strange is there and very gently holding her shoulders.   
  
He doesn’t comment on her tears, which she appreciates.   
  
“Thank you,” she said, “I needed that.”  
  
“The universe owes him a great debt. If I could give you more than that, I would.”  
  
He’s right, but she knows the universe isn’t always fair, and she doesn’t expect it to be. She’s thankful for the time she had, even if it’s not nearly enough. With his words wrapped around her heart like her suit, she steps back into the world he left for her to protect, knowing she’s making the right decision and feeling him flying with her as she chases the stars in the sky.


End file.
